A manganese nodule from the ocean floor — the polymetallic nodules targeted by deep-sea mining hold nickel, cobalt and copper. (Image: Hannes Grobe / Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Trump administration has finalized the first deep-sea mining lease sale in United States history, opening roughly 31 million acres of ocean floor off American Samoa to mining companies despite widespread opposition from local leaders and environmental groups.
The Interior Department's Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) issued its Final Leasing Notice on Monday for the sale, designated PACM-1, with bidding set for November 19. The sale covers two lease areas on the federally controlled Outer Continental Shelf — one of about 16.3 million acres and another of about 15.2 million acres. Each area carries a minimum bid of $3 million and a primary lease term of 20 years, with production royalties starting at 2% for the first five years of commercial mining and rising to 5% after that.
The areas are believed to hold polymetallic nodules and ferromanganese crusts rich in nickel, cobalt, copper and manganese — minerals the administration calls vital to energy technology, national defense and domestic supply chains as the U.S. tries to reduce its reliance on China-dominated supply lines.
"Critical minerals are no longer just commodities; they are a vital strategic asset in global competition," said Mike Olsen, acting director of the MMA. He added that the agency recognizes the cultural, economic and environmental significance of the waters around American Samoa and would balance development with environmental stewardship and engagement with local communities.
The sale follows an April 2025 executive order in which President Donald Trump called U.S. leadership in deep-sea science and technology a "core national security and economic interest," and a leasing request from U.S. firm Impossible Metals.
Opposition remains fierce. American Samoa banned deep-sea mining in its own territorial waters in 2024, though the auction covers federal waters beyond that limit. Critics warn that scraping the abyssal plains could cause irreversible harm — waste plumes smothering marine life and heavy machinery disrupting whale migrations — in one of the least understood ecosystems on Earth.
Whether any company bids, and what happens next, will be watched worldwide: the November 19 auction is the first real test of whether deep-sea mining moves from decades of debate into commercial reality under the U.S. flag.